Presently large areas of Government-owned firing ranges and proving grounds have been rendered less useable because of contamination caused by the depositions from depleted uranium warheads. Depleted uranium warheads scattered over an area are considered a hazard because of their inherent heavy metal toxicity and their residual radioactivity.
The present method of cleanup is a complex hazardous procedure requiring the use of manpower and equipment exposed to haphazardous conditions. The existence of unexploded warhead duds located in the same general vicinity of the depleted uranium rounds further complicates the decontamination procedure. the combination of hazards require recovery teams to wear full body protective gear as well as radiation monitoring gear such as dosimeters. At the completion of a search everyone involved is required to go through decontamination procedures. The present method is considered "haphazard" primarily because the search team search pattern is not accurately mapped. Since many of the range areas of concern are contaminated with High Explosive Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and heavy metal poisoning hazards they have been categorized as a grade II hazard. This condition of hazard has led to the death or injury to recovery team personnel. Because the areas to be searched are classified as a radioactive zone, there is also a time restriction as to the duration of time the search team members can remain in the contaminated area. Acerbating the problem is the fact that all currently known radiation detection equipment must skim within an inch or two of the ground necessitating a very narrow field of view.